No. 13 Falcons Close Regular Season At Home This Weekend

Friday, March 6

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:07 P.M.

Bowling Green State University

Alabama Huntsville

March 04, 2015 | Ice Hockey

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

No. 13 BOWLING GREEN FALCONS
(19-10-5, 15-8-3 WCHA)
VS.
ALABAMA HUNTSVILLE CHARGERS
(8-22-4, 7-18-1 WCHA)

Friday, March 6 | 7:07 p.m. ET | BGSU Ice Arena
Radio:88.1 FM WBGU (Evan Pivnick)
Television: BCSN (Greg Franke / Scott Paluch)

Saturday, March 7 | 7:07 p.m. ET | BGSU Ice Arena
SENIOR NIGHT
Radio: 88.1 FM WBGU (Evan Pivnick)
Television: BCSN (Greg Franke / Scott Paluch)

GAME NOTES (.PDF) | Live Stats | Video (WCHA.TV)
Follow Along: @BGFalconHockey | @BGAthletics

Weekend Highlights

Falcon Weekly (with Chris Bergeron and Evan Pivnick)

On Tap
Bowling Green closes out the regular season Friday and Saturday by hosting Alabama Huntsville at the BGSU Ice Arena, with 7:07 pm puck drops scheduled for both nights. Each game will be televised by BCSN and Saturday is Senior Night, honoring the Falcons' six seniors. BGSU has earned the No. 3 seed for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Tournament and will host a WCHA First Round best-of-three series March 13-15. For Alabama Huntsville, the Chargers are looking to close strong to qualify for the WCHA Tournament. Currently, the team is tied with Lake Superior State for seventh place, three points ahead of Alaska Anchorage for the final playoff spot.

About Alabama Huntsville
Alabama Huntsville enters the weekend with a record of 8-22-4 overall and 7-18-1 in WCHA play. While the record may not sound strong, it shows marked improvement over a two-win season a year ago with the possibility of eliminating the program swirling. Freshman Max McHugh has helped to spark the turn-around ranking among the top 30 newcomers in the country with 21 points (10 goals and 11 assists). Sophomore goalie Carmine Guerriero is 18th in the country with a .926 save percentage. As a team, the Chargers rank 57th in the country (out of 59 teams) in scoring offense at 1.74 goals per game and is 52nd in scoring margin at -1.44 goals per contest.

The Series
Bowling Green is 11-3-1 all-time against Alabama Huntsville, which includes two road victories earlier this year. The Falcons won 5-0 and 4-1 in October behind a three-goal weekend by Kevin Dufour and a shutout by Chris Nell. Alabama Huntsville did beat the Falcons in the BGSU Ice Arena a year ago, 4-3, but the Falcons are 5-1-1 all-time against UAH in Bowling Green.

Last Weekend
Bowling Green clinched home ice for the first round of the WCHA Tournament and earned the No. 3 seed as the Falcons split a weekend series at Alaska Anchorage. Freshman Brandon Hawkins scored the third period game-winner Friday night in a 4-3 victory over the Seawolves, but Alaska Anchorage answered with a 6-1 win Saturday night.

What They Are Saying
"We haven't been as consistent (over the past 18 games) as we were in the first half (of the season). But, we came home from Alaska with third place guaranteed, home ice, 19 wins on the season -- all good things. We want to make sure the mindset is right moving forward. We are in a good spot." -- Head coach Chris Bergeron

Playoff Scenarios
Bowling Green will host a best-of-three playoff series March 13-15 for the first round of the WCHA Tournament. The Falcons have earned the No. 3 seed and will host either Bemidji State, Northern Michigan or Ferris State for the three-game series. BGSU will face the No. 6 seed for the right to advance to the WCHA Final Five. Currently, Bemidji State sits in fourth with 27 points, Northern Michigan is fifth with 26 points and Ferris State is sixth with 23 points.

National Recognition
BGSU will enter the weekend 13th in the USCHO poll, down two spots after splitting with Alaska Anchorage last week. Earlier this year, the Falcons spent six straight weeks in the top 10. The Falcons entered the poll at No. 19 in the country on Nov. 10 and increased their vote count for 13 straight polls. BGSU peaked as high as No. 6 (on Jan. 19 and Jan. 26). The Falcons are one of three Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHA) teams that earned a spot in the Top 20, as Minnesota State is No. 2, while Michigan Tech is No. 4.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
Much like the USCHO.com poll, Bowling Green is now ranked No. 13 in the country shortly after spending six consecutive weeks in the top 10. The Falcons peaked at No. 6 on both Jan. 19 and 26, entering the poll at No. 15 on Nov. 24.

Highest Ranking EVER
#FalconHockey's 19-10-5 start marks the best start to a season since the 1995-96 team went 22-11-1 through 34 games. However, that's not the only historic fact coming away with their tremendous start. Bowling Green jumped as high as No.6 in the USCHO.com poll this season, marking the highest ranking for the Orange and Brown since the poll began in 1997. In fact, the team increased its vote total for 13 consecutive weeks to start the season. BGSU entered the poll at No. 19 on Nov. 10 and then made a steady climb up the poll as the year progressed.

Seeing 20-20
Bowling Green needs just one more win for its first 20-win season since the 1995-96 season. In total, the Falcons have won 20 games or more in a season 18 times, which includes five 30-win seasons.

#MadhouseOnMercer
With Falcon Hockey's steady improvement over the course of the season, the BGSU Ice Arena has seen an increase in fans at home games. Three of the last eight home games have seen attendances over 3,200 and the BGSU Ice Arena is averaging 2,830 fans per game this year, an increase of more than 800 fans per game over last year's 2,022 average. The most memorable crowd this season, and now in program's history, was a record-breaking attendance of 5,353 vs. Ohio State on November 14.

Team Success
Amazingly, BGSU does not have a single Falcon among the top 100 point scorers in the country despite having the 18th-best offense in the nation. The Falcons, though, boast impressive depth as 13 players have at least 10 points (only three other schools have more) and 20 have scored at least one goal. BGSU is one of four teams (along with St. Lawrence, Yale and Bemidji State) to have a winning record but not a single player with 25 points or more on the year.

The Bergeron Factor
BGSU Head Coach Chris Bergeron arrived in Bowling Green in 2010-11 and the Falcons won 10 games in his first season at the helm, doubling the team's win total over the previous season. The next year, Bowling Green climbed to 14 wins and then added another win on top of that in 2012-13. A year ago, the Falcons improved their win total for the fourth straight season with an 18-victory campaign and BGSU has 19 wins this year. It is the first time in program history that the team has improved its win total in five consecutive seasons.

Road Warriors
BGSU is 11-5-4 away from the BGSU Ice Arena this year (including a tie at Fifth Third Field in Toledo). The Falcons last won 11 road games in a single season in 1995-96 when the Falcons also won 11 outside of Bowling Green. No team has won more than 11 away from the BGSU Ice Arena since the 1987-88 team won 16.

The Burke Wall
Junior goaltender Tommy Burke played in each of the first three games of a four-game set against Ferris State earlier in February. It was just the second time this year that the Falcons used the same goaltender on back-to-back nights. Burke also played back-to-back in a sweep at Alaska, making the Falcons 4-0 on weekends with a single goaltender. Dating back to last year, the Falcons have swept four consecutive series' when playing just one goaltender.

Falcons On The PK
For most of the year, Bowling Green has led the country on the penalty kill, but the Falcons have dropped to second in the nation after allowing a power play goal in four consecutive games. BGSU is at 90.1 percent on the penalty kill and Cornell leads the country at 91.1 percent. Merrimack is third at 89.3 percent.

Special Teams Shining
Guided by the second-ranked penalty kill in the country this year, Bowling Green's combined special teams rank seventh nationally. BGSU broke out of a slump on the power play and has scored three man-advantage goals in the past three games. In total, BGSU is at 53.8 percent combined special teams. Alabama Huntsville, this weekend's opponent, is first in the country at 57.6 percent.

Power Play Breaks Free
Heading into last Saturday's game against Northern Michigan, the Bowling Green power play had struggled, coming up scoreless on 28 consecutive chances dating back to a first-period goal against Lake Superior State on Jan. 24. But on the team's first power play opportunity, Brent Tate ended the slump. The Falcons added a Mark Cooper power play goal in the second and went 2-for-5 with the man advantage on the night. BGSU followed that up with another power play goal this past Friday in a 4-3 win at Alaska Anchorage.

Comeback Kids
BGSU has won four times this year after trailing in a game. Most recently, the Falcons swept Ferris State at home despite falling behind in each contest.

Defense Stood Tall
BGSU's 2-1 win against Ferris State on Feb. 6 was the first time this year that the Falcons have won a game in which it scored two or fewer goals. The Falcons are just 1-6-3 in such contests this year. The last time BGSU had won a contest in that situation was a 2-1 victory over Michigan Tech in game one of last year's WCHA Tournament first round.

#FalconFast
When Ben Murphy and Pierre-Luc Mercier scored just 80 seconds apart in the third period on Feb. 7 against Ferris State, it was the eighth time this year that the Falcons have scored twice in less than two minutes. The Falcons scored just 20 seconds apart on Jan. 17 against Michigan Tech, which were the final two goals in a Falcon flurry that accounted for three goals over 1:55. BGSU also scored twice in just 24 seconds against Alaska on Jan. 10. The pair of goals against Ferris State was the fourth-fastest this year.

Road Warrior Hawk
Freshman Brandon Hawkins leads the team with 24 points (18th in the country among rookies) and is second with 12 goals. However, 11 of those goals and 19 of those points have come on the road. Hawkins finally scored his first goal in BGSU Ice Arena against Northern Michigan on Feb. 20.

Falcon Freshmen
When Braden Pears made his collegiate debut at Ferris State, he became the tenth freshman this year to see action for the Falcons (nine true freshmen and redshirt freshman Nolan Valleau). Among the top 50 freshmen point scorers in the country, the Falcons hold down four of the spots with Brandon Hawkins leading the way in 18th with 24 points. Defenseman Mark Friedman is tied for 44th with 17 points. Mitch McLain and Nolan Valleau are tied for 50th with 16 points apiece. As well, freshman goalie Chris Nell ranks among the top 30 goalies in the country in win percentage. In total, BGSU's freshmen have accounted for most assists and points of any class on the team.

WCHA.TV
The season, fans of the WCHA can watch more than 180 games of its games live and in high definition thanks to WCHA.tv. Powered by America One Sports and Eversport.tv on WCHA.tv the platform enables fans to watch all 10 conference teams in action throughout the season. Every league game will be streamed live, along with each team's non-conference home contests, the league's postseason and the WCHA Final Five. With WCHA.tv, fans can follow their team wherever they are. Each game will be available on multiple platforms, including traditional web browsers on PCs, tablets and mobile phones using the iOS and Android platforms.

#FalconHockey/Social Media
The Bowling Green Falcons hockey team is on Twitter and Instagram. You can follow along all season long by following the Falcons on Twitter @BGFalconHockey. The Orange and Brown use their official hashtags FalconHockey and WeAreBG throughout the entire season. You can also follow the Falcons' Instagram account, BGFalcons.

Evan Pivnick "The Voice" On The Mic
All games this season can be heard on the radio by tuning into 88.1 WBGU-FM. Evan Pivnick will provide the play-by-play commentary throughout the season. The pregame show will air 30 minutes prior to the opening face-off. The broadcast can be heard globally on www.bgsufalcons.com.

LiveStats
Live stats for all BGSU home games are available on the BGSU website- www.bgsufalcons.com - via Live Scoring. The stats can be accessed from the schedule page in the hockey section of the website by clicking on the "details" icon on the right hand side of the page, then by clicking "live scoring".